Canadian Cattle Young Leaders recognizes 2025–2026 program mentors
March 17, 2026
Calgary, AB — Canadian Cattle Young Leaders is pleased to announce this program year’s industry-leading mentors who are kindly investing their expertise and time to offer guidance to the next generation of the Canadian beef industry.
Each year, the Canadian Cattle Young Leaders (CYL) Program selects 16 participants ages 18–35 from across the country and offers industry networking, travel, and skill building opportunities. A focal point of the program is matching participants with a hand-picked mentor in their specific area of interest in the Canadian beef industry for a nine-month mentorship experience.
There is an exciting array of mentorship focus areas this year, including risk management, markets, digital communications and marketing, grazing management, research and innovation, genetics, nutrition of beef, direct marketing, business planning, policy, and much more.
“Supporting the next generation is crucial to the long-term success of our industry,” says Canadian Cattle Association President, Tyler Fulton. “The time, expertise and guidance that our mentors put in each year is second to none. We appreciate their dedication and the invaluable role they play in shaping the future leaders of the Canadian beef industry.”
The formal portion of these mentorships began in November 2025 and will conclude at the end of July 2026. Each participant is granted a $3,000 budget through the program.
To learn more about this year’s mentorships pairings, you can visit our participant spotlight page (https://canadiancattleyoungleaders.ca/participant_spotlight2025.html) on our website.
Applications for the 2026–2027 program year are available at www.canadiancattleyoungleaders.ca from January until the end of March 2026, where young people involved in all areas of the beef supply chain ages 18–35 are encouraged to apply.
Thank you to our Platinum Partners, Cargill and McDonald’s Canada, Foundation Partners, MNP, and Elanco, and Gold Partners, Farm Credit Canada, RBC Future Launch and Alltech for making these opportunities available to the next generation in the Canadian beef industry possible.
About Canadian Cattle Young Leaders
Canadian Cattle Young Leaders (CYL) welcomes young people ages 18–35 across Canada, involved in various aspects of the beef supply chain, to be paired with an industry leader in their specific area of interest for a nine-month mentorship. Through mentorship, networking, and travel, the Canadian CYL Program acts as an industry succession planning tool to equip the next generation of leaders with the skills and tools they need to continue to drive the growth and profitability of the Canadian beef industry. Since established by the Canadian Cattle Association in 2010, the program has seen over 200 CYL graduates. Learn more at www.canadiancattleyoungleaders.ca.
For further information, contact:
Tina Zakowsky
Communications Manager
Canadian Cattle Association
(403) 451-0931 | zakowskyt@cattle.ca
For a PDF of the release, click here